


And a Dash of Peppermint...

by ironmessTM (InkOfEmrys)



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: And so this happened, Anyway back to actual tagging, But not angsty?, Did you know that many spiders can't tolerate peppermint?, For once there is nothing to regret, Gen, Guys I think this is fluff, Is this something I wrote, Oh my god is this what I think it is?, Pepper Potts' Famous Hot Chocolate, Sassy Peter Parker, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, is this fluff?, well i do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21989113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkOfEmrys/pseuds/ironmessTM
Summary: You guys were so receptive to the last fluffy thing I wrote, I couldn't resist doing it again. I've had this idea stuck down the rabbit hole for...a few months now, but then it literally occurred to me that this, right now, is the time of the year it was meant to be written in, and I was like whoooa, hell yes - no more excuses to procrastinate :)So...yeah, this is a quick little thing wherein we see some more of our friendly neighborhood Spider-kid, some more of our friendly neighborhood Irondad (lowkey? highkey? we'll see.) and all around, what I hope can be considered authentic levels of sass from everyone involved. I'd like to think I kept it short and sweet, so...in case you're staring at this and wondering if it goes super fast...I don't think it does, so much? I tried to make it satisfying, even if it's shorter, is all I'm trying to say.I have no idea what I'm writing here. Anyway, without further ado...keep an eye out for Pepper's famous hot chocolate... ;)
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 107





	And a Dash of Peppermint...

Peter yawned, stretching out his arms and shaking off the last vestiges of sleep as he walked into the Compound’s main living area. Ambient Christmas music had been flowing throughout the room’s embedded speakers for most of the morning, but F.R.I.D.A.Y. dimmed it automatically as he approached (in consideration of his sensitive hearing). 

He’d just been let out for winter break a few days ago, and Tony and May had come up with something to surprise him. They’d agreed to have him to spend a few days tinkering and working alongside all the finest bleeding-edge tech the engineer’s lab had to offer, and decided to let him stay at the Compound during that time instead of just visiting after school every now and again before patrols. Of course, he’d already fallen asleep at his worktable one night, and they’d had other fun. But that was another story.

“Morning, sleepyhead.” Tony called from where Peter hadn’t yet realized he was sitting, startling him for a moment before his tensed position relaxed.

“Oh,” Peter exhaled with a smile and a soft laugh. “Morning, Mister Stark.” He swiveled his gaze over towards his mentor, taking in the billionaire’s arm slung over the back of the couch and the Santa hat resting lazily on his head, and then the other man sitting across from him. “And Mister Rhodey.”

“Just call me Rhodey, kid.” The colonel said as was their routine every time. “Just Rhodey.”

“No, no, I think I like Mister Rhodey better.” Tony interjected with a good-natured smirk. “Very professional.” The other man snorted, and Tony, his eyes shining with humor, turned back to look at Peter. “Back me up here, Parker.” Peter laughed, gently shaking his head and walking behind the kitchen counter to pull some bread from the fridge. He let the door fall closed and turned around to face the toaster, before stopping – crinkling his nose and furrowing his eyebrows.

“What’s up, kid? I could’ve sworn you’d stopped talking for a second there…though maybe that was just wishful thinking.”

“It…” he started, drawing a breath and stepping backward in slight confusion. “Ugh, it smells kinda weird in here.”

“Probably just you, mister I-thought-I-put-the-spider-suit-in-the-laundry.” Tony retorted, taking a long sip from the festive Star Wars themed mug in his hand. “All I smell from here is sweet, sweet coffee,” he sighed blissfully.

“Admit it, Tony, you have a problem.” Rhodey said half-jokingly, their long-running joke about the billionaire’s love of caffeine still going strong.

“It’s only a problem if it comes with a downside,” he quipped in response, smiling as he proceeded to down the remains of the cup. He rose to his feet, walking around the couch and over to the much-loved coffee pot by Peter. “Ah, refill time…” he exhaled, tipping a fresh serving into the mug. “Hey, kid,” he started, nodding his head toward a large thermos on the counter. “We’ve got hot chocolate if you want some. I think Pepper said she made it last night. And, trust me, it’ll be gone fast – her hot chocolate is kind of famous around here.”

Peter elected to shake off the odd, albeit irritating scent, deciding his sense of smell was probably just overreacting to something in another room’s trash can. “Sure, thanks, Mister Stark.” He pulled his bread from the toaster as it popped up to meet him, smiling softly when he saw that Tony had actually had a chance to fix it, and lower the volume so that it was easier for him to be around. Setting the toast on a plate, he turned around to find a mug ready and waiting for him – yet another one commemorating a holiday take on Star Wars, which Tony had bought – with Peter in mind – almost the second he’d seen it. This one had AT-ATs wrapped around the legs with Christmas ribbon and holiday lights, all tied up and festive such that they never failed to make Peter smile.

He walked around to the sofa, not vaulting over the back like he usually would (because of the cargo in his hands), and taking a seat on the blankets next to Tony. Crunching and swallowing a bite of toast, he brought the mug to his lips, taking a sip – only to freeze the second it hit his tongue. “All good, Parker?” Tony asked from the corner of his eye, slightly nervous but electing to feign nonchalance. Peter would’ve responded, but gagged as his spider senses shot to alertness and immediately flooded his system with adrenaline, something in his brain blaring like a catatonic siren. He dropped the mug on the coffee table (neither of which broke, thankfully), and ran for the sink before spitting out the mouthful of liquid, and coughing somewhat violently to clear it from his throat.

“Peter??” Tony exclaimed, shooting to his feet and no longer bothering to pretend he wasn’t worried. Already having extended his hand and summoned his gauntlet purely on instinct, he was somehow at Peter’s side before he even realized it and had begun running through every worst-case scenario in his head. Were they poisoned? If so, by who? Were there infiltrators, perhaps even assassins in the building? Were they going for him, or for Peter? But did that mean that Peter’s identity had been compromised, that someone knew he was Spider-Man? Or had they pieced together what the kid meant to him, and decided to take a shot at him that way?

Peter’s soft coughing as he wiped off his mouth with the back of his hand reeled the man out of his thoughts, the kid’s throat finally sounding clear and his next words drawing Tony’s attention away from his pounding heart. “…Mister Stark?” Peter asked with a shaky laugh as he saw Rhodey appear at Tony’s side. “What…exactly, was in that stuff? Because…no offense to Mrs. Pepper, but…that…th-that was some kind of nasty, I mean, m-my head is _screaming,_ right now.”

“Friday?” Tony asked, tilting his head towards the ceiling to address the A.I. as he fought to calm his own unsteady breathing. “You got anything for me?”

“Preliminary scans of both the mug and thermos show no signs of any harmful or ill-intentioned substance. But, if I may consider one possible explanation, this reaction might have been the result of the high peppermint content in the beverage.”

“What? Kid, are you allergic to peppermint?” Tony asked, doubling on him.

Peter immediately began shaking his head, his eyes wide with confusion because, well, since his spider bite – and to be honest, even mostly before that – he hadn’t really been allergic to anything, besides pollen or other asthma-related triggers.

“Allergy was most likely not a factor. The adverse trigger of fight or flight in his adrenaline could be due to his mutated spider DNA, as many species of spider are known to have an extremely low tolerance to peppermint; a quality of theirs which makes the substance a common repellant for the creatures in certain regions.”

“I-” Tony started, flustered. Pausing – before groaning – he threw his head back in exasperation, completely frozen but also warmed at the very least by relief. Rhodey handed a grateful Peter a glass of water and gave him a pat on the back, before his laughter spilled to the surface and he let the look on Tony’s face sink in. Priceless. As if the gauntlet would’ve done anything.

Tony, electing to ignore his friend’s response, watched as Peter set down the glass and grimaced at the remains of the thermos, and then stepped forward to pull him into a hug. Peter froze, for a moment. While they’d been getting closer, and spending more time with one another nowadays…this had certainly not happened before. 

But…he embraced it (no pun intended), and within moments had melted into the man’s welcoming arms. 

“You do that to me again, and I’m calling May to come get you early. You got that, kid?” Tony said jokingly, his tone warm and rich with the knowledge that he had no intention of doing any such thing.

“Yeah.” Peter replied with a quiet laugh, gently moving his arms so he was hugging his mentor back.

  
  


“You got it, Mister Stark.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> I swear, I don't even know or remember at this point if Tony's love for caffeine is just me or if it's actually canon. That's how you know you're in deep, isn't it hahaha
> 
> Lots of stuff in the pipeline, as usual (though of course the two-to-three day side voyages are the only things that ever get finished)
> 
> I had more things to say here, but I can't remember any of them. I hope you have a nice day!


End file.
